The 17th-century carved oak screen of one of the oldest livery halls in the
City of London has been damaged after fire broke out at the Stationers’ Hall
in Ave Maria Lane, near St Paul’s Cathedral.

More than 200 people were evacuated from the Grade I listed building,
including 181 members of the Worshipful Company of Musicians who were
holding their annual midsummer banquet in the hall on Wednesday evening.
They were tucking into their medallions of Scotch beef, braised oxtail and
garlic-scented fondant potato when fibre-optic lighting caught fire in a
display cabinet in the western side of the